Most hotel and resort managers believe their website is doing just fine. It looks clean, loads eventually, and guests can make bookings. But here’s the truth: what looks “fine” to you might look like a mess to Google, and that could be costing you thousands in direct bookings.
When it comes to search engine visibility, Google does not care how beautiful your website looks. It cares how well your site performs under the hood. And if your site is not technically sound, optimised for mobile, or structured in a way that search engines can understand, you are invisible to the very people searching for you.
Here is what might be happening behind the scenes and how to fix it.
Your Site Looks Good, but Loads Slow
This is one of the biggest hidden killers of website performance.
A stunning homepage with high resolution imagery might impress guests, if it loads at all. But if your site takes more than three seconds to load, particularly on mobile, users bounce and Google notices.
More than 63 percent of all travel-related searches now happen on mobile. If your website is not mobile-first in design and lightning fast, you are losing traffic, rankings, and revenue.
Google Ranks Mobile First — Are You Ready?
Since 2019, Google has used mobile-first indexing, meaning it looks at the mobile version of your site first when determining rankings.
If your desktop site is perfect but your mobile version is broken, slow, or hard to use, your rankings will suffer. A mobile-first design is not just about resizing, it is about creating an experience that is easy to use on the go, with fast loading times, clear navigation, and streamlined booking flows.
Structured Content Matters More Than You Think
Search engines rely on structure, page titles, heading tags, metadata, and internal links, to understand what your site is about.
Without this structure, Google may struggle to understand your content, especially as it evolves towards AI powered results. If your site is a collection of pretty pages with no clear keyword focus, you are sending mixed signals to search engines.
Learn more about optimising your hotel or resort website for AI tools like ChatGPT and Google SGE
Your Rankings Are Down Because of Google Updates, Not Guests
You may not notice the impact right away, but Google makes core updates multiple times per year. In 2024 alone, there were at least seven major updates that affected site rankings across industries.
If your site is not being actively audited, monitored and updated, you can lose rankings even if nothing appears wrong on the surface. This is exactly why ongoing optimisation matters, and why “set and forget” websites no longer cut it.
Vanity Metrics Will Not Save You
You might feel reassured seeing traffic in Google Analytics, but is it quality traffic? Are you ranking for terms that matter, like “Broadbeach accommodation” or “resorts near Palm Beach”, or is your site pulling in irrelevant visits?
If you are not converting traffic into bookings, or ranking for the right intent, your website is not working as hard as it should.
This Is Exactly Why We Rebuild
You might be getting results now, but digital shifts quickly. Even recently built websites can fall behind if they are not optimised for the latest standards. That is why we recently started the rebuild of the Swell Resort website, even though it was less than two years old and already ranking well.
The result? Faster load times, improved UX, and staying ahead of future Google and AI changes.
What to Do Next
If you are unsure whether your site is helping or hurting, we recommend starting with a website audit. This will uncover what Google sees when it looks at your property online.
From there, we can advise on improvements, performance-based rebuilds, or full scale Boost Direct marketing, our results driven program that includes:
- Custom SEO optimised websites
- AI friendly page structures
- Mobile-first performance
- Blogging and content marketing
- Paid search to block OTA brand hijacking
- Review response and reputation management
- And more
Want a Free Website Audit?
If you want to know what Google really thinks of your site, book a no obligation website audit with our team.
We will show you what is working, what is not, and how to unlock more direct bookings with better digital performance.